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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27366097">once you start dreaming</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/anabel/pseuds/anabel'>anabel</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>the golden boys [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>National Football League RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fake Dating, M/M, Non-Linear Narrative, Slow Reveal, Yuletide Treat</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 16:40:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,885</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27366097</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/anabel/pseuds/anabel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Aaron offers a dinner date as his contribution to a charity auction, he doesn't expect Pat Mahomes to be the winning bidder.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Patrick Mahomes/Aaron Rodgers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>the golden boys [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2088150</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>50</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Yuletide 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>once you start dreaming</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohtempora/gifts">ohtempora</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Set during an unspecified NFL season in the near future. (Not set during the 2020 season, as charity auctions and restaurant dates are of course out of the question currently.)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~</p>
</div><p>“Going – going – gone, to the dashing young quarterback from Kansas City!”</p><p>Just like that, Aaron’s night has gone to hell in a handbasket.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~</p>
</div><i>two weeks earlier</i><p>“What are you gonna auction off?” Cobb asks, blocking Aaron’s layup with ease.</p><p>Aaron shrugs, chasing the ball. “Haven’t decided. Probably offer myself as a golf partner for a celebrity tournament.”</p><p>“Golf,” Cobb says, in tones of loathing. Aaron’s found that golf is the Marmite of sports. “That the best you can do?”</p><p>Aaron tries a fancy dribble. No matter how much Cobbo mocks him for it, one of these days he’s going to master at least one sequence. “You got a better idea?”</p><p>“A date,” Cobb says, with alarming promptitude. “You’re one of the most eligible bachelors in America. Half the people there will be rich, famous, beautiful women who want to look generous for charity. You put yourself up on that auction block, and whoo boy! Childhood cancer gets cured within the year.”</p><p>Aaron rolls his eyes, which gives Cobb the opportunity to steal the ball away. </p><p>“Besides,” Cobb says, as he stutter steps his way past Aaron to the basket, “if you wanna find a sugar-mama like Giselle or Ciara, no better way.”</p><p>Aaron thinks it sounds like an excellent way to get stuck going on a date with some inane flavor of the moment giggler who he’ll have to google before dinner. </p><p>On the other hand, it probably <i>would</i> raise more money. And he won’t have to endure anyone’s horrible golf game. And at least part of the time their mouth will have food in it and won’t be able to talk. Maybe Cobb’s on to something here.</p><p>(Famous last words.)</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~</p>
</div><i>a week before the date</i><p>[Transcription of video interview.]</p><p><b>ESPN</b>: So, Pat, what made you bid on Aaron Rodgers’ dinner date?<br/>
<b>Patrick Mahomes</b>: Who wouldn’t want to take Aaron to dinner?</p><p><b>ESPN:</b> I guess you two have a lot to talk about! Including the fact that you might face each other in just a few weeks. [Ed. Note: For more on the NFL playoffs, visit our website!]<br/>
<b>PM</b>: We still have a lot of football to play before we get there! We’ll probably just argue about the ending of Game of Thrones. It's been years and Aaron still has opinions about it.</p><p><b>ESPN</b>: One of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game, and a guy who will probably be there in ten years, and you two aren’t going to talk about football?<br/>
<b>PM</b>: Football’s more fun to play than to talk about. Sometimes we do [complain] about common enemies, though.</p><p><b>ESPN</b>: Spill.<br/>
<b>PM</b> (laughing): Not a chance.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~</p>
</div><i>the date [the weekend of the Wildcard Round, from which both quarterbacks have byes]</i><p>“You do realize,” Aaron said, inspecting his overpriced glass of white wine, “that half the people in this restaurant are trying to get a sneaky photo of us.”</p><p>Pat’s looking at the menu, but there’s a quirk in the side of his mouth. “Probably not half, don’t exaggerate. Like, maybe a third. And half of those aren’t <i>sneakily</i> trying, they’re <i>blatantly</i> trying.”</p><p>Too many fractions for Aaron’s brain tonight. “You didn’t think maybe this would be a bad idea?”</p><p>Pat slants a glance at him. “Two quarterbacks on a dinner date. Smile pretty, let them get a few good shots, and they’ll leave us alone. Not like we’re going to get in a food fight or something.”</p><p>Aaron doesn’t really feel like smiling, but he tries. </p><p>“So,” he says, playing with the edge of his napkin. “How much of a cheat code is Hill, anyway?”</p><p>“Says the man who has Davante Adams,” Pat says instantly.</p><p>So much for <i>Game of Thrones</i>.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~</p>
</div><i>earlier that night</i><p>“It’s for charity,” Aaron tells mirror-Aaron sternly, adjusting his tie. Mirror-Aaron is absurdly inclined to be nervous, which is ridiculous. “Eat some $100 spaghetti, look handsome, smile for the cameras. Done.”</p><p>Dinner date, in public. In a fancy restaurant that could, if you were with someone you loved, be romantic. Dressed to the nines. With a man. People taking photos of you smiling at him, laughing with him, listening to his stories. Looking for all the world like a real couple.</p><p>It doesn’t matter that Aaron knows that everyone in the world thinks this little fake-date is the cutest thing to come out of the football world in quite a while. Two hot quarterbacks pretending to date, raising money for charity. The heart-eyes emoji has been deployed on Twitter quite a bit.</p><p>It’s still – he’s still nervous. (That is, mirror-Aaron is. <i>Aaron’s</i> got this handled, of course.)</p><p>There’s a knock on his door.</p><p>“You ready?” Pat says, when he opens it. Pat’s – Pat’s got a corsage in his buttonhole. Pat is taking this whole thing entirely seriously, with only the slightest crinkle at the corners of his eyes. </p><p>“You sure you don’t just want to donate the money to charity and call it even?”</p><p>Pat raises an eyebrow. “Rodgers, I paid good money to take you out. Get in the car.”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~</p>
</div><i>the day after the date</i><p><b>@packersfan1995:</b> Could Aaron BE any cuter in these date photos? I swear that man gets hotter every year.</p><p><b>Tabloid headline:</b> BROMANCE! Star quarterbacks go on date for charity!</p><p><b>Somewhere in the bowels of the Internet:</b> Sports and Sports RPF – NFL (4 comments)<br/>
Are nominations for Chocolate Box open yet? I want Rodgers/Mahomes like burning.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~</p>
</div><i>three days before the date</i><p><b>Aaron:</b> So, where are we going?</p><p><b>Pat:</b> (typing)</p><p><b>Aaron:</b> If it’s Cheesecake Factory, I will leave. </p><p><b>Pat:</b> (typing)</p><p><b>Pat:</b> you’ll see ;)</p><p><b>Aaron:</b> Seriously?</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~</p>
</div><i>a week after the date</i><p><b>Divisional Round</b><br/>
[1] Chiefs defeat [4] Steelers, 49-20<br/>
[1] Packers defeat [6] Rams, 31-21</p><p><b>Reporter #1:</b> Aaron, how was your date?<br/>
<b>Aaron Rodgers:</b> The only date I’m thinking of right now is our date with the Seahawks next week. </p><p><b>Reporter #2:</b> Will you see Patrick Mahomes again?<br/>
<b>AR:</b> He’s a little hard to miss right now, so I imagine so.</p><p><b>Reporter #3:</b> Mahomes threw five touchdowns against the Steelers today. How do you defend against that kind of firepower?<br/>
<b>AR:</b> First we defend against the Seahawks.</p><p><b>Reporter #1:</b> Mahomes said in his postgame interview that he’d be open to a second date but that you had to match his charity contribution. Will you commit to doing so?<br/>
<b>AR:</b> I’m happy to match Pat’s charity contribution. I hope many people will join us and donate to the MACC Fund, or to other charities that support cancer research.</p><p><b>Reporter #4:</b> Does that mean that you’ll go on a second date?<br/>
<b>AR:</b> Jesus. (laughing) Okay, look, guys, if I say yes, can we talk about the Seahawks?</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~</p>
</div><i>the next day, on a morning talk show</i><p><b>Host:</b> Next up after the break – you’ve seen the photos from their charity date, and now they’ve pencilled in a second one. We’ll talk about how quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes are leading the way not only in raising money for the fight against childhood cancer, but in showing American men how to move past fragile masculinity as well.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~</p>
</div><i>a week after the date</i><p>“So you’re dating the enemy now?” </p><p>Aaron sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose between forefinger and thumb. “Yes, Bakhs, I’m dating the enemy now.”</p><p>If he listens, he can hear Pat’s laughter, half snort half giggle. Pat’s baseline is just plain sunny, more than anything else. Oh, he can get intense, no question about that; but Pat’s optimism and blithe outlook on life are unmatched. Aaron supposes winning as much as Pat does, as easily as Pat does, is part and parcel of it. With the stats Pat puts up every week, Aaron would probably be grinning ear to ear too.</p><p>Davante says, “At least it’s not Tom Brady.”</p><p>Aaron doesn’t think there’s enough money in the world to make him go on a date with Tom Brady. What would they even talk about? Exercise routines? No, strike that – what would they even <i>eat</i>? Aaron manages his diet (or, rather, lets the team’s very nice dieticians manage it for him), but Brady watches every molecule of sustenance and has probably not consumed one speck of sugar in five years. He’s a robot who eats like a robot. Not exactly prime dinner date material.</p><p>“If Brady offered one million dollars for a date, Aaron would donate the million himself and turn him down,” Bakhtiari says.</p><p>Aaron thinks about it. “No. I’d have him donate the money and then take him to Olive Garden.”</p><p>Brady would be mortally offended, but ask Aaron if he cares. Now Pat? Aaron bets that Pat would snort his snort-laugh, and pick up a breadstick and challenge Aaron to a duel.</p><p>In the ‘other superstar quarterbacks’ category, Aaron is picking Pat every time.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~</p>
</div><b>Conference Championships</b><br/>[1] Packers defeat [2] Seahawks, 28-24<br/>[1] Chiefs defeat [3] Bills, 56-35<p><b>Reporter #1:</b> So Pat, any plans for your second date with Rodgers?<br/>
<b>Patrick Mahomes:</b> It’s tomorrow actually!</p><p><b>Reporter #2:</b> So soon? Everyone thought you’d wait until after the Super Bowl.<br/>
<b>PM:</b> We thought we’d better do the date while we still like each other. (laughing) </p><p><b>Reporter #3:</b> Do you think it’ll be harder to play the Packers, when you have a friend on the other side of the ball?<br/>
<b>PM:</b> I have friends on pretty much every team in the league. When you’re on the field, you don’t think about that [stuff]. Besides, we’re never on the field at the same time. I’m not tackling the guy, just trying to get more points than him.</p><p><b>Reporter #1:</b> Where are you guys going?<br/>
<b>PM:</b> Nice try. But actually I don’t know. I told Aaron it was his turn to pick.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~</p>
</div><i>the next morning</i><p>“Why’d you bid on me, anyway?”</p><p>It’s a question Aaron’s been considering for a while. Oh, Pat’s been asked a thousand times by reporters, but he dodges it every time. And Aaron is curious. </p><p>Pat shoves a forkful of eggs into his mouth, which is another dodge.</p><p>“C’mon,” Aaron says. “There were a ton of other offers you could have bid on, if you wanted to make a donation. You could’ve learned cooking from Alton Brown, or recorded a cover song with Taylor Swift, or gone rock climbing with Alex Honnold. Or maybe not the rock climbing because Andy would’ve killed you. But. Why me?”</p><p>Pat swallows. Considers. Picks up his orange juice.</p><p>“Patrick.”</p><p>“Maybe I’ve had a crush on you since I was a teenager,” Pat says. There’s something – artificially light about his voice. “Hot quarterback, Lombardi Trophy, that sort of thing leaves a mark on the psyche. Maybe every time you do one of those ridiculous comebacks of yours, I think <i>Damn, I’d hit that</i>.”</p><p>Aaron stares down at his own eggs. Hollandaise sauce pools on the plate. “Pat. Be real here. What made you bid on me?”</p><p>He thinks for a moment that Pat isn’t going to answer him, is going to deflect again. </p><p>Then Pat exhales, a gust of air that makes his shoulders slump. “Maybe,” he says, his voice strained. “Maybe I wanted America to see two men going on a date. Yes, everyone’s all “two straight guys on a date, hahaha funny,” but they’re still <i>seeing</i> it. There are little gay kids out there right now who saw us on a romantic date, all dressed up, table for two and candles and fancy napkins. They don’t know yet that there aren’t any gay NFL players. They just know that their heroes can go on a date without batting an eye.”</p><p>“Pat,” Aaron says. He doesn’t know what to say. </p><p>Pat isn’t looking at him. His orange juice spilled a bit on the tablecloth when he gestured, but he doesn’t seem to have noticed. “And maybe someday,” he says, his voice rough, “there <i>will</i> be a pair of NFL players who love each other.”</p><p>“If the League would accept them.” Aaron’s been in the NFL a lot longer than Pat has, and he’s faced a lot more adversity than Pat has. He can’t imagine a world where a gay NFL couple didn’t ignite a firestorm to end all firestorms. He’s under no illusions that the dates with him and Pat would be acceptable if there was the slightest question of them being more than platonic.</p><p>“Whether the League fucking accepted them or not.”</p><p>It’s a small brunch place and they’re by the window, the Green Bay sun weakly streaming through the glass. Nobody’s near enough to hear them, which is a good thing.</p><p>“Pat,” he says, then waits until Pat reluctantly looks up at him. “If you want to come out, I’ll support you all the way. Not just in private, I’ll make a public statement. I’ve got your back.”</p><p>Pat is silent for a long moment. Then he says, “Big of you,” shoves his chair back, drops his napkin on his plate, and walks out of the restaurant.</p><p>Aaron signals for the check, and gloomily considers faceplanting right in his uneaten Hollandaise.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~</p>
</div><i>the next day</i><p><b>Headline:</b> Trouble in Paradise? Mahomes storms out of cozy brunch date</p><p><b>Reporter:</b> What happened on your date?<br/>
<b>Patrick Mahomes:</b> No comment. I’m focused on football.</p><p><b>Reporter:</b> What happened on your date?<br/>
<b>Aaron Rodgers:</b> I said something stupid. Pat, I didn’t get the chance to say this yesterday, but I’m sorry.</p><p><b>Headline:</b> NFL Fans Start GoFundMe to Persuade Superstars to Go on Third Date, Mend Friendship</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~</p>
</div><b>Aaron:</b> Pat. Pick up the phone.<div class="center">
  <p>~*~</p>
</div><i>Pro Bowl weekend - one week until the Super Bowl</i><p>Aaron sits on his couch and watches the Pro Bowl, because he has nothing better to do. And it’s surreal to be actually rooting for Tom Brady for once. NFC pride.</p><p>He zones out in the second quarter, drinking his beer and imagining the world of Pat’s rose-colored glasses. </p><p>What would it be like, if two NFL players fell in love? If they just – talked about it? Publicly dated? Introduced each other to their friends, brought each other to team functions, wore each other’s jerseys and went to each other’s games and posted silly videos on Instagram. Lived and trained together in the offseason, did fitness challenges together, went on sweaty sunrise runs with their dogs. </p><p>What would it be like, to face down the haters and hire somebody to go through your mail to weed out the death threats before you saw them? To be the target of homophobic abuse and attacks, both online and in person, to hear the slurs shouted at you when you were trying to focus on an important play. To always worry about the man you loved, more than about yourself; to worry that when the haters came at him, you wouldn’t be able to protect him. Because maybe he cared a little too much, maybe he didn’t have quite as tough a shell, maybe he hadn’t learned yet that the world was a cold place.</p><p>What would it be like, to know the dangers and the risks, and to choose love anyway? To face the world hand in hand, and let the chips fall where they may? To co-own the title of the “first openly gay football player,” and – not care? To be a role model for a generation of gay kids and teens, and let them see hope for the future reflected back at them in the faces of their heroes? </p><p>Pat wants that. Aaron could see the hunger in his face. He’s such a bright, open person; he must crave the light, crave to live his truth in the world he dreams of.</p><p>Aaron tries to imagine a world like that, letting the background noise of the Pro Bowl wash over him. He’s never had a great imagination. He sees reality: sees routes, sees defenders, sees coverage and options and risks. He makes hard choices and split-second decisions. He feels football in every nerve of his body, lives and breathes and dies by it every day. </p><p>He’s a realist, and Pat’s a dreamer. Pat’s imagined world is as alien to him, full of uncertainty and hope and nebulousness, as his cold hard real world must be to Pat.</p><p>And yet.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~</p>
</div><i>Super Bowl media day</i><p><b>Reporter #1:</b> Pat, have you seen that the GoFundMe has reached $50,000?<br/>
<b>Patrick Mahomes:</b> I’m focusing on football this week. I appreciate that people are raising money for cancer research. I’ll talk to Aaron about it after the Super Bowl.</p><p><b>Reporter #2:</b> Have you accepted Aaron’s apology?<br/>
<b>Moderator:</b> Football questions only, please.</p><p><b>Reporter #3, at the back of the room [later identified as Aaron Rodgers]:</b> Pat, have you seen that the GoFundMe has reached $60,000?<br/>
<b>Reporter #1:</b> $50,000.<br/>
<b>AR:</b> Check it again. Pat, I’m a stupid idiot, will you please let me buy you a drink at least and explain more about how I’m an idiot?<br/>
<b>PM:</b> I don’t drink during the season.<br/>
<b>AR:</b> I’ll buy you anything you want. [Shoot], I’ll cook for you.<br/>
<b>PM:</b> …Fine.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~</p>
</div><i>that night, in the apartment Aaron’s rented for Super Bowl week</i><p>“I understand why you’re upset.”</p><p>“Do you?” Pat’s turned away from him, staring out the window. In the dark expanse stretching away below them, the city lights sparkle like diamonds.</p><p>“Yeah,” Aaron says, quietly. “I do.”</p><p>Pat looks at him then, really looks at him, for the first time since that awful argument, with so many undercurrents left unspoken. </p><p>The steaks he’s cooking need a careful eye, and Aaron should go back to the stove; he reaches out a hand to touch Pat’s shoulder, light and wary as a feather.</p><p>“I tried,” Pat says, abrupt. “I tried not to… and I thought I could, I thought I could be happy. With just – just football, and… But. But I can’t. And I know that’s not fair, I know I have no right – but once you start dreaming, you can’t…can’t fucking stop.”</p><p>It’s perhaps the most fragmentary and least comprehensible thing Pat has ever said to him, and Aaron understands every word. </p><p>“Do you know what I’ve spent the last week doing?” he asks.</p><p>Pat’s mouth quirks in a reluctant smile. “Preparing to torch my poor secondary?”</p><p>“Thinking about dreams,” Aaron says.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~</p>
</div><b>@PatrickMahomes</b><br/>Apology accepted. :) Btw he burnt the first ones, Chiefs 1 Packers 0. [Image: Aaron Rodgers sitting at a table with a plate of steak and salad in front of him. His eyebrows are raised and he’s making a funny face at the camera.]<p><b>@AaronRodgers12</b><br/>
@PatrickMahomes You made me burn them! That’s totally on you bro. </p><p><b>@AaronRodgers12</b><br/>
Thank you to everyone who donated to the GoFundMe. We’re counting tonight as our third date, so thank you for your contribution to cancer research. I will be matching the total. #MACCFund [Image: Selfie of Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes smiling at the camera.]</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~</p>
</div><i>just after the final play of the Super Bowl</i><p>It’s over.</p><p>The teams flood the field. Half the players are devastated, half are ecstatic. Perhaps the greatest dichotomy in sports is the difference between the winning and losing teams after a championship game. But whether joyful or distraught, all are now milling about trading handshakes and shoulder pats and man hugs. It’s total chaos.</p><p>Aaron was on the sideline during the final drive, watching his defense at work. He comes on the field now, followed by the usual bevy of cameras. There’s only one person he’s looking for right now, one person he searches for in the melee, finding him more by <i>his</i> hovering cameras than anything else.</p><p>Pat sees him coming, and they wade through the crowd towards each other. </p><p>When they meet in the middle of the field, an outside observer wouldn’t be able to tell winner from loser. They embrace, a firm hug. The winner is fiercely joyous, the loser gutted. Another year is over. Someone’s magical year has ended in victory, in another Lombardi Trophy, in another Super Bowl ring and another MVP title and another page in their legacy. The other’s magical year has come up just short, a could-have-been, but one to be proud of nonetheless. Football is a cruel mistress: there can only ever be one victor.</p><p>Aaron pulls back from the hug. “Take off your helmet.”</p><p>“What?” Pat shouts, trying to be heard over the din.</p><p>Conscious of the cameras surrounding them, Aaron leans back in. “Take off your helmet.”</p><p>He sees the moment Pat gets it. </p><p>Sees the light spark in his eyes, the fumbling of his fingers as he brings them up too-fast to wrench his helmet up and off, the slight trembling of his shoulders. </p><p>If Pat dreams an impossible dream, then the man who loves him should dream it too. </p><p>“You said sometime soon,” Pat says, when the helmet’s off, his eyes huge. “I thought – the offseason –”</p><p>Aaron loves him so much his heart aches with it. </p><p>Two years they’ve been together - two years of casual fuckbuddies turned long-distance relationship, never formally acknowledged but growing ever closer every day. Both in the closet, ever since the beginning, Aaron at least so used to it that he never even thought to dream of anything more, of anything bigger than the carefully inscribed boundaries of his life. He’d never considered taking the myriad risks of exploding that closet door.</p><p>But then Pat started dreaming of something more, and made himself heartsick over the lack of it, and Aaron missed the signs until it was almost too late. (Almost, but not quite.)</p><p>Pat’s dream world may have been imaginary, but they can make it real together. They’re two of the greatest quarterbacks in the game; they know how to mold a narrative, how to fight against overwhelming odds, how to seize momentum and rally troops and inspire a nation. If Pat’s dream world matters that much to Pat, that he’s willing to risk everything – if the man Aaron loves can no longer hide his truth – if keeping their love private is making Pat desperately unhappy - then Aaron will step clear-eyed and battle-ready into the breach with him. </p><p>It’s a new world and an uncertain one, but as he readies himself to begin it, Aaron finds he’s not afraid of the future anymore. Not with Pat at his side, hand in hand.</p><p>“Soon is now,” he says, just loud enough for Pat to hear, and leans in to shock a nation.</p><p>Pat opens his mouth against Aaron’s, and puts an urgent hand on the back of Aaron’s neck, holding him close. He kisses like he always has, with every fiber of his being, and Aaron’s heart belongs to him – belongs to this sunny, hopeful, optimistic, laughing man, this fucking incredible quarterback, this person who has abysmal opinions on television shows and puts ketchup on far too many things and loves him with every inch of his being. </p><p>Aaron pulls back, leaning their foreheads together. </p><p>Three “fake dates”, two years of secret dating, one public kiss. And a partridge in a pear tree.</p><p>“This is about to get insane,” he says, smiling. The prospect no longer terrifies him as much as it ought to. He’s been infected by the unreasonable optimism of Pat’s crazy dream, and can’t find it in himself to regret that.</p><p>“Let it,” Pat says, and kisses him again, as the fireworks go off overhead and the cameras snap away and the melee whirls around them. </p><p>Here at the epicenter of it all, there is only them.</p>
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  <p>~*~</p>
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